COACH ENIO: 2 Players, 2 Pylons and 3 Fundamental Passing Drills

Passing is one of the most important fundamental skills for players
of all levels. The ability to pass and receive the puck is the
difference between a good player and an elite player. In terms of team
play, a team that is efficient in passing will be able to get the puck
out of their end, attack the opponents and have a great power play.

A couple of key points in passing receiving include:

Keep your head and eyes up (maintain eye contact)

Keep your stick blade on the ice,

Make sure your blade is square to the oncoming puck, and

“Cushion” puck when receiving (soft hands).

With young players, we like to emphasize the sweep pass where we
use the following: puck behind the back foot/look/sweep/point (roll
wrist pointing blade at the target).

Here are three simple drills coaches can do with their teams or players can do at extra ice sessions.

AGILITY PASSING: Player 1 leaves for the pylon on his right, upon
passing the pylon he pivots backwards, as he is going backwards he
receives a pass from player 2 (#1), takes the puck backward, clears the
pylon, pivots forward and passes back to player 2 (#2). Player 1 then
repeats the sequence on the other side (passes #3 and #4). Have players
pass and receive on their forehands and backhands. You can have players
make 10 passes or go by time. Insist on proper passing technique and
quick feet.

TIGHT TURN PASSING: Player 1 leaves without the puck and does a tight
turn around the cone. On the way back he gets a pass from player 2
(#1), he carries the puck doing a tight turn on the other side, then
passes the puck to player 2 (#2). After some time or number of reps,
player 1 repeats the other way. The other option is to have player 1 and
2 exchange touch passes when player 1 is in the middle. Players change
position.

LATERAL QUICK FEET PASSING: Player 1 is facing player 2 and leaves to
his right moving laterally with quick feet. When he clears the pylon,
he stops then exchanges a touch pass with player 2 (#1 and #2). He then
moves laterally with quick feet to the other side of the pylon and
exchanges touch passes (#3 and #4). Again, we can do this by reps or by
time. Players switch positions.

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